Ceiling leakage toilet on top

[Vinvar]

Hi,

I am new to home ownership. Bought my place 1 months back. We have a few guests at home. They mistakenly poured a whole big bucket of water on the toilet floor on the second level. Now I see a small leakage on the toilet in the first floor which is directly below the second floor. Pls advice on what I should do. I also do have A home warranty. Should I call them and get this checked up. What I also worry about is if I call the warranty people then would this problem come on some record like it does on carfax for a car. Worried about resale value and also want to do the right thing and get this fixed.

I am sorry. I am new to this forum and home ownership. This might be a stupid question. Pls bear with me.

 

[Reach4]

Wipe up and suck up whatever water you can. That would have been done immediately we hope. A wet-dry vacuum cleaner would be a nice addition to deal with future spills, including onto carpet.

Turn down your humidifier if you have one.

I would point a fan at the downstairs ceiling and upstairs floor. Yes, too little, too late. But it won't hurt.

I would keep buckets away from your guests, and maybe limit the future serving of alcohol. Sigh.

I can't imagine that a home warranty would help in this case.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Vinvar]

And just to add the water is leaking via a ventilator or duct or whatever it's called

 

[Vinvar]

If water is spilled on the floor then is it normal if water leaks onto the ceiling? Or does something need to get fixed?

 

[Standardairconditioner]

I've never heard of "Carfax" for houses.

Fact, when a home is being resold, inclusions mentioned by the realtor such as new roof, new windows, new basement main, updated breakers, etc. all INCREASE the value of the home. No amount of work done on a home ever hurts it, if anything, all MAKES it better.

One thing that hurts the resale value of a home is when a buyer's inspector finds PROBLEMS you didn't address or tried to cover up.

A whole lot of water is needed to seep thru new drywall. It has to eat a lot of it away before it even becomes visible by you in the room. By the time you saw something wrong on the ceiling, much time and damage had already passed. Your friends simply pushed it over the edge, I am certain there was a leakage problem from the very first day the toilet was installed. With each flush ate a little more and more of your ceiling drywall.

It does not hurt to pull off the toilet. Pulling it off to inspect and reinstalling it with a new wax ring or waxless is quick and easy. You may or may not have the skills for this.

Your ceiling is also certainly rotten as well, you just can't see it since the water is on its otherside. Having said that, you may want to cut a square into the ceiling too, right under where the toilet flange is. Drywall is easy to patch up. You may or may not have the skills for this.

 

[Reach4]

I think that Vinvar is hoping to be told that bathroom floors are normally waterproof and that if it is not, a home warranty policy should pay to make it so. I am not sure that Vinvar was looking primarily at how to minimize potential damage. Home warranty policies don't pay easily for the stuff they are suppose to insure against, and I can't see that paying anything in this case.

To the extent that the pouring of the bucket of water on the floor was act that caused fairly sudden damage, if there is any payment by insurance for damages, I think that would be from Vinvar homeowner's insurance. I don't know how such a claim for repair expense would be handled.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

I think I would focus on getting the problem fixed before the floor rots and the ceiling below collapses. It sounds like a simple problem that will become a major one if it not taken care of immediately.

 

[Vinvar]

All,

Thank you all for your reply. Thank you very
much. The only point that was not considered in the reply was the fact that the water did not seep through the dry wall. There was small droplets of water coming out from the ventilator or exhaust on the ceiling. That caused a very small area around the vents to become damp. I then realized that the toilet above had water all over the floor. This is the first time there was water on the floor and first time dampness observed down. Since this incidence we have been extra careful, no water on the toilet floor and thus no dampness on the ceiling below.

Pls advice. Do I need to go through steps to remove toilet or make a hole and check etc etc. this work might get expensive perhaps. Just bought the house. Trying to not spend more if someone thinks it's not necessary or has some alternatives or something.

 

[Cacher_Chick]

You need to figure out where the water leaked out from. It might be a simple matter of replacing the wax ring under the bowl.

 

[Terry]

When a toilet flange is installed to the floor, it's almost never waterproofed to the floor. Get enough water on the floor, and it will find it's way down to the next floor.
We caulk almost all the way around the bowl, which in most cases if enough to prevent water from flooding under the bowl. If you plan on washing down the floor with buckets of water you will have problems. Mopping yes, buckets no.